Marshall began life in 1962 in the form of a small London-based shop ‘Jim Marshall and Son’, after demand from key players for a new more powerful amp, Jim Marshall and his team created the ‘Number One’, followed shortly by the 100-watt Amp, Super 100 Head and Marshall 8×12″ Speaker Cabinet. Since then, Marshall went on to become one of the most famous and loved amp manufacturers in the world, producing iconic amps, cabinets and heads as well as fantastic pedals and headphones.
With that, let’s take a look at two popular Marshall amps, the MG50GFX Gold and the CODE 50.
| Features: | Marshall MG50GFX Gold | Marshall CODE 50 |
|---|---|---|
| Price: | £249 | £249 |
| Max Wattage: | 50W | 50W |
| Control Panel: | Gain, Volume, Bass Middle, Treble, Reverb, FX Select, Master Channel Select x2, Tap, Store, Damping, Extra FX | Bass, Middle, Treble, Gain, Volume, Pre FX, Amp, Mod, Del, Rev, Power, Cab |
| Weight: | 16.6kg | 13 kg |
Marshall MG50GFX
In all the history of rock, one amp brand has held its own and became the most recognisable amplifier brand in history: Marshall.
From Marshall’s legendary Plexi to the ever so versatile JCM 800, Marshall has defiantly made its mark in music history.
While Marshall amps are known for making tube amplifiers, they have dipped their toes into solid state technology such as the classic Marshall Valvestate, which featured a tube preamp section and a solid state poweramp.
Marshall’s MG50GFX represents the latest in Marshall’s all-solid-state line, and if you’re looking for a classic Marshall tone at combo prices, then this is a good place to start looking.
Design
There’s no doubting that the MG50GFX is a Marshall, with its gold face and knobs, black grill cloth, and the white logo displaying the legendary brand name synonymous with rock. The MG50GFX looks quite similar to most other amps that Marshall has made, and for good reason, as the appearance of the amps is one of the things that made Marshall into the musical icon that it is today. Although Marshall’s most glorious days are technically over, the classic look will remain just that, a classic. And so, it’s good that this amp has held true to that tradition.
Marshall’s MG50GFX is a square box with faux-tolex and plastic corner pieces, making it look the part, but not feel the part. From a distance, it’s hard to tell that this amp is a budget Marshall, but the closer you get to it, the more apparent it becomes.
It features a useful carry handle, which is nice for when you want to carry around the amp from gig to gig. However, this comes standard on basically any amp, but it’s still a nice feature to have.
Unfortunately, all the gold hardware is made out of plastic, which doesn’t feel as fancy as the metal on the ‘larger’ Marshalls. The buttons have a green or red light that lights up whenever the button is engaged.
Sound Quality
Of course, the most crucial part of any piece of musical gear is how it sounds. Unfortunately, this is where most of the hate towards the MG comes from. Users of the amp tend to say that the clean sounds are adequate and work well with pedals, but the gain sounds are nothing special.
The biggest problem lies mostly in the way that the distortion is created. Normally, distortion appears when tubes are driven beyond their capabilities, resulting in compressing the signal and creating harmonic overtones.
However, as this amp doesn’t have tubes, the distortion comes from the solid-state technology inside. This type of distortion is often described as thin, shrill, and digital sounding. These days, solid state technology has advanced to the point where it can create amp-like sounds. Although, the MG hasn’t come this far.
Marshall’s MG50GFX doesn’t sound bad, it just doesn’t sound the way most guitarists desire. Many see Marshall on the front, expecting it to sound like a JCM 900. However, when they turn it on and turn it up, it just doesn’t.
The speaker does it no favours either. It sounds bright and a little shrill, with lots of treble and not a lot of bass. Even though it has a 12” speaker, it sounds like it’s much smaller.
With all that being said, with lots of tweaking (and good technique), it’s still possible to get a great sound out of it, especially with an upgraded speaker.
Although most of this doesn’t matter for many beginners, which is what this MG50GFX is marketed towards.
Marshall Code 50
Marshall’s Code 50 amp has been the company’s step into the modern world of amps; with all the features you’d expect from a modern “2022” amp. The amp is compact and fairly lightweight that’s ideal for studio and recording work, great for gigs, and with all the built-in modelling and effects, it’s also a perfect practice amp too.
Marshall’s new “CODE” range fills the gap in their product range with an affordable, all-digital, solid-state amplifier complete with partner smartphone app software that’s a super user-friendly interface.
The CODE line-up has 25-watt, 50-watt, and 100-watt versions that are built to suit all guitarists; however, the 50-watt is the perfect middle ground that has enough power and volume to please most guitarist’s needs but is not too heavy or bulky to carry around.
Design
With the minimalist design of the speaker’s cabinet, complete with Marshall’s classic white logo, the controls and amp functions are what really sets the amp apart from other Marshall amps.
Its control face is on top of the cabinet and not on the front, which is quite unusual for Marshall amps. However, this serves an important purpose, making the complex controls easier to access than if they were on the front face.
The amps controls are divided into two sections: the bottom section is reserved for all the usual controls you’d expect on a guitar amp: volume, bass, mids, treble, and gain.
The Code 50 also has a standard headphone jack output, aux input, and USB port, plus a built-in tuner. The top section is where all the magic happens, with the housing having controls for all the effects and digital amp and cabinet simulations, with a screen to access all the presets.
Effects
Marshall’s Code 50 is not short of effects and amp modelling. In fact, it may take some time to navigate everything that this amp can do.
The Code 50 comes loaded with 14 MST preamps, 4 MST power amps, and 8 MST speaker cabinets. As you’d expect, almost all of these presets are based on classic Marshall amps from the last 50 years, including the likes of the JTM45, the Bluesbreaker, JCM800, and the JCM2000, and some other classic sounds too.
It doesn’t end there as there are 24 customizable effects including modulation, delay, reverb, chorus, wah, and overdrive, all with tap-tempo options, adding to a total of 100 different presets all in all.
All of these presets are fully customizable either from the intuitive LCD top panel display or via Bluetooth using Marshall’s interface app that allows you to control these effects in real time from your smart device.
The Code 50 has an included USB interface that has several functions. It can be used to update firmware for the modelling section and used for recording straight to your PC.
Sound Quality
When it comes to modelling amps, the quality of their built-in effects and amp models is what really matters. With Marshall’s amps, you can expect a great sound from the beginning, and the amp on its own without any effects running is everything you’d want from a 50-watt solid-state Marshall amp. The effects are what really separates the Code 50 from the rest.
The presets that are built into the Code 50 are fantastic and are about as close as you’ll get without plugging it into the real thing.
These types of amps are often guilty of stripping the guitar plugged into them of its unique character, meaning that using a Stratocaster won’t sound that much different from a Les Paul. Again, this is one of the main reasons why many guitarists tend to shy away from these amps.
The Marshall Code 50 is different, as both the effects and amp models have a uniquely authentic sound to them that doesn’t take too much away from the guitar that’s plugged in. This is a fantastic achievement from Marshall and is sure to change the game for modelling amps in the future.
The effects themselves sound authentic and are fully adjustable, including the tap-tempo for delays. The options on this amp are almost endless, and guitarists a few decades ago would only dream of having such a diverse palette at their fingertips.
The Code 50 is perfectly loud enough for band practice and small gigs, without it becoming too muddy or distorted. Overall, this is one of the best-sounding modelling amps on the market.